Metal lath



L. W. CROSS METAL LATH Filed Oct. 12. 1926 S F J INVENTOR 3 f 571% l\ qATTORNEY$ Fig. 1, Fig.2, however,

Patented Nov. 13, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEONARD W. GROSS, OF WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO CONSOLIDATEDEXPANDED METAL COMPANIES, OF BRADDOOK, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

METAL LATE.

Applioationlfiled October 12, 1926. Serial No. 141,074.

This invention relates to metal 'lath,t'hat is to say, it relates tothat class of expanded metal which is made of relatively light gaugemetal expanded substantially by deploying.

in contradistinction to the heavier grades of.

expanded metal made on the guillotine machines.

As an example of a deploying machine for expanding metal fabric, I referto the Salmon and Booton Patent No. 1,408,647, 1ssued March 7, 1922,which shows a machine of the divergent guide type, and in connectionwith which my invention is primarily usefuh One of the primary objectsof my invention is to make'it possible to make smaller diamond metallath on a machine such, for example, as the divergent guide machineabove referred to.

It is another object of the invention to produce metal lath which isrelatively stifl and strong in those regions where stiffness andstrength are required, and which is relative- -1 1i ht.

siiill another object of the invention is to provide sheets of metallath which, considered as a whole, are relatively stiff, althoughcomposed of relatively light stock.

' More specifically it is an object of the invention to overcome certaindifliculties in expanding the metal which will be more particularlyhereinafter set forth, v

I obtain the foregoing, together with such other objects andadvantagesas may hereinafter appear, tion, by means of the blank and thelath illustrated in the preferred form in" the accompanying drawings,wherein- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a fragment of a blank suitable forcarryingout one form of my invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan viewof a fragment of a sheet of metal lath inade fromthe blank of being drawn on an enlarged scale, and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing'the spacing of the slitsof the blank slitted in the ordinary fashion, or are incident to myinven-f edges. small diamond metal lath from heavy stock. By the sametoken I am enabled to produce a smaller diamond metal lath, for; anygiven in the finished product, the strands 9 and connecting bridges 10.On examination of these figures it will be seen that the rows of slitsfor a distance. inwardly from the longitudinal edge B of the sheet aremore widely spaced from one another than they are toward the middleportion of the sheet or blank. This provides strands and bridges for alongitudinally extending section of the lath which are wider than theremaining strands and bridges. The longitudinal section of the sheet oflath which is composed of these relatively wider strands and connectingbridges is, therefore, stiffer and stronger than the remaining portionof thevsheet It is to be understood that the rows of slits along eachlongitudinal edge portion of the blank are .made more wide, as abovedescribed, so that of the pin wheels 12, such as illustrated in theaforesaid patent will properly enga e the blank.

One of the important advantages of the foregoing is that I am enabled tomake a corn mercially satisfactory product on such a machine fromheavier stock than would otherwise be the case. If blanks of heavystock, are expanded on a machine of this general character, there is aptto be a pulling out or breakage or distortion at the .edge 'portions ofthe sheet which is detrimental. not only from the standpoint of thefinished product, but also from the standpoint of cost of manufacturebecause of the heavy losses involved. Therefore, it has beencustomary'to make a larger diamond metal lath when usingaheavy stock toavoid breakage in the machine at the By my invention I am able to makeweight or grade of stock than was possible heretofore. I

Another advantage of the foregoing are-- rangement is that besidesadding general stiffness to the sheet *103 p as a whole, the sheet isstrong Where it overlaps the adjoining sheet and also where it is to benailed to the Woodwork or studding. Ihus, by my invention I can secureadequate strength for nailing or support, while still using a very lightgauge metal.

I claim:

1. Metal lath having a number of its strands and connecting bridges,from a longitudinal edge of the sheet inward, wider than the remainingstrands and bridges whereby the sheet has a relatively stifi and strongsection longitudinally and marginally thereof.

2. A blank for lath adapted to be expanded in an expanding machine ofthe divergent guide type comprising a metal sheet having rows of slitsstaggered transversely of the sheets to provide the strands andconnecting bridges of the finished product, the rows of slits for adistance inward from a longitudinal edge of the blank being more widelyspaced than the other rows. v

3. A blank for lath comprising a metal sheet having rows of slitsstaggered transversely of the sheets to provide the strands andconnecting bridges of the finished prodnot, the rows of slits for adistance inward from a longitudinaledge of the blank being more widelyspaced than the other rows.

4. Metal lath having certain of its strands and bridges lengthwise ofthe sheet wider than the remaining strands and bridges to provide arelatively stiff and strong meshwork section running len thwise of thesheet.

In testimony whereo, I have hereunto signed my name.

LEONARD W. CROSS.

